Market News

Zcash’s recent selloff has been driven largely by broader crypto-market weakness, rather than a clear deterioration in its fundamentals.

Rising oil prices, higher Treasury yields and a stronger US dollar had weighed on risk appetite before the sentiment improved after Trump ruled out strikes on Iran before the November elections and triggered a relief rally in risk assets.  

The main upcoming catalyst for Zcash is the NU7 network upgrade. Testing is progressing, with developers expected to make a final mainnet activation decision on October 20, with November 5 targeted for launch.

The upgrade aims to reduce block times from 75 seconds to 25 seconds and…

Crude oil pulled back in the final part of last week after Trump ruled out strikes on Iran before the November elections and added that they’ve been having productive discussions.

Over the weekend, Iran said that the US's response to its proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was insufficient. The negotiations to resolve the difference are still ongoing and Iran's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson said today that Tehran is still reviewing US positions and will reply via intermediaries when the review is over.

Trump also claimed on Sunday that Russia and Ukraine agreed to an energy ceasefire and will halt attacks on each other's energy facilities. According to Axios, Trump…

Just about everyone wants a piece of the AI pie these days. Tech companies are spending big and investors are dreaming even bigger. It seems like nobody wants to miss out.

With billions of dollars being poured into AI, there is a lot of money to go around and also to be made - or at least that is what everyone is hoping for at the end of the day. But the main question remains, where exactly is all this money going?

For the most part, you have your big tech giants spending heavily on building data centers and buying up powerful chips in order to run their respective AI services.

And that means the companies that are supplying all this equipment are among the first to benefit from the spending boom. Yup, those are the likes of Nvidia and TSMC…

FUNDAMENTAL OVERVIEW

Ethereum's recent price action has been driven mainly by macro and geopolitical developments, particularly movements in US Treasury yields, the US dollar and overall risk sentiment.

US-Iran escalation risks triggered a broad crypto market selloff but some of the losses were eventually pared back after Trump ruled out strikes on Iran before the November elections. The two sides are still engaged in negotiations to reopen the Strait of Hormuz.

Looking ahead, falling Treasury yields and a weaker dollar could support prices in the short term but those moves will need to have a fundamental backing. Therefore, the focus will remain on US-Iran…

OPEC has just announced a rather significant downgrade to its oil demand outlook for this year. The bloc slashed its growth forecast to just 400,000 bpd, down from the 1.4 million bpd it had projected at the start of the year. Now, that's quite a substantial revision to say the least.

According to OPEC secretary general, Haitham Al Ghais, the latest downgrade reflects the developments in the oil market throughout the year. And they are also still expecting some of that deferred demand to materialise some time in 2027. In other words, OPEC is anticipating that there will be a recovery in consumption conditions next year.

Having said that, the present outlook is arguably the more pressing issue for oil traders. Despite the weaker demand…

FUNDAMENTAL OVERVIEW

Gold rebounded strongly in the final part of last week after Trump ruled out strikes on Iran before the November elections and added that they’ve been having productive discussions. The news triggered a relief rally in gold as Treasury yields and the US dollar pulled back.

Over the weekend, Iran said that the US's response to its proposal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz was insufficient. Tehran had outlined seven conditions for restoring normal maritime passage within seven days and said some points remained unresolved. The negotiations to resolve the difference are still ongoing.

Looking ahead, the focus will be on US-Iran developments and the US…

Four times a year, publicly traded companies release their financial results, giving investors a picture of how businesses are performing, whether conditions are improving or deteriorating, and whether current stock prices are justified by future profit expectations.

For investors, earnings are about comparing actual results with expectations, assessing what management expects in the coming quarters, and determining whether the new information changes the outlook for future earnings.

What is earnings season?

Earnings season is a specific multi-week period each quarter when a vast majority of publicly traded companies cluster together to release their official financial earning (revenue, profits, and losses) and reports for the previous…

• Eurostoxx +0.5%
• Germany DAX +0.4%
• France CAC 40 +0.4%
• UK FTSE +0.5%
• Spain IBEX +1.2%
• Italy FTSE MIB +0.7%

It's a positive mood all around as European investors get to their desks this morning, with Spain's benchmark index leading gains in the early stages. The broader market mood is looking relatively upbeat, although I wouldn't read too much into the early advance just yet.

As a reminder, we are dealing with a partial market closure in the US to start the new week. Wall Street will remain open for business later but the bond market will be closed. That means traders and investors will be without one of the most important market signals to work with, especially as the surge higher in Treasury yields have been a key driver weighing on risk…

Gold futures swing trade idea: A patient buy ladder with four upside targets

Gold futures (GC/MGC) | October 12, 2026 | Multi-week swing trade

Gold futures are trading near $4,215 in the supplied October 12 snapshot, following a substantial correction from the late-August highs near $4,755. Although a bullish reversal is not yet confirmed, buyers appear to be defending the broader $4,100 to $4,160 region. My preferred approach is to wait for lower prices and build a position gradually, rather than chase the recovery.

The strategy involves four potential buy entries, a defined protective stop and four profit targets. Larger allocations are reserved for deeper pullbacks, but some orders may never execute.

Swing trade at a glance

The main focus in markets this week will be on the US CPI report due Wednesday, 14 October. The inflation numbers for September will be heavily scrutinised as traders and investors are very much still caught in trying to weigh the inflation outlook as well as risks of the Fed raising interest rates further. And all of that is made even more crucial as Treasury yields are threatening multi-decade highs in the past week or so.

The usual expectation is that a hotter-than-expected inflation report will be bad news for stocks. But what if we actually get that but Wall Street refuses to play ball and stocks do not happen to fall? That is a rather interesting scenario, no?

To start, let's just consider what the typical market reaction should be.…